spontaneously

[ spon-tey-nee-uhs-lee ]

adverb

1. naturally, without premeditation, prompting, or planning:

   The author recounts how a fully-fledged exchange market economy emerged spontaneously in his POW camp.

   These answers were given spontaneously to an open-ended question that did not offer response options.

2. in an impulsive way:

   It was so cold the other night that I spontaneously booked a trip to Turks and Caicos.

3. by a natural process or from an internal force or cause:

   A calf should normally stand spontaneously within 60–90 minutes of its birth.

   The symptoms resolved spontaneously within 6 months of onset.

Other Words From

• non·spon·ta·ne·ous·ly adverb
• sem·i·spon·ta·ne·ous·ly adverb
• sub·spon·ta·ne·ous·ly adverb
• un·spon·ta·ne·ous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of spontaneously¹

spontaneous ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

“Electric vehicles are statistically less likely to catch fire spontaneously than an internal combustion engine vehicle.”

From Los Angeles Times

In his written submissions to the IPT, Mr Weatherby said: "The perpetrators were not unknowns who acted spontaneously or with a simplicity which gave little room for discovery."

From BBC

The parcels then spontaneously burst into flames or blew up.

From BBC

On the Atlantic Boulevard corridor between Whittier and Olympic boulevards, TV news helicopters have captured for decades the pachangas — shindigs — that spontaneously erupt any time the Dodgers, Lakers or Mexican men’s national soccer team win a big game.

From Los Angeles Times

One has to imagine that among the covens of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, similar celebrations of glee are spontaneously erupting today after the two-part finale of “Agatha All Along.”

From Salon

Related Words

• automatically
• immediately
• unconsciously